Below you will find a chronological list of current Council projects. You can search by issue or region by selecting the appropriate category. In addition to this sorting control, you can search for specific subjects within the alphabetical, regional, and issue categories by choosing from the selections in the drop-down menu below.
Each project page contains the name of the project director, a description of the project, a list of meetings it has held, and any related publications, transcripts, or videos.
September 12, 2001—Present
December 1, 2001—Complete
| Staff: | Julia E. Sweig, Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies and Director for Latin America Studies |
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Based in Washington, D.C., and directed by Julia E. Sweig, the Andean Roundtable Series addresses strategic questions related to developments in Colombia’s war, Venezuela’s political crisis, the crises of governance in the Andean countries, as well as the policies of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and other international organizations regarding Colombia’s conflict and its spread. Thematic issues such as the connection between energy and security, corruption, and the use of natural resources in the Andes are also parts of the Roundtable Series. The Roundtable draws on a wide range of speakers, ranging from academia, the policy community, as well as U.S. and foreign government officials.
This roundtable is made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation.
February 1, 2001—June 30, 2003
| Director: | Morton H. Halperin |
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January 31, 2001—June 30, 2002
November 1, 2001—January 1, 2003
| Director: | Jordan S. Kassalow |
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The health of the world has expanded from a humanitarian issue to an issue of national security and economic growth. Global health not only has an impact on most of the foreign policy objectives we hope to achieve, but also a direct effect on the health of Americans, especially as globalization frays our national boundaries. A focus on health is part of a foreign policy agenda that aims at building a more secure world, draws all countries into a growing network of interdependence that sustains stability and maintains America’s central role within that network. This roundtable series brings leaders from the foreign policy and health communities together to discuss the recommendations of the CFR-Milbank Memorial Fund report, “Why Health is Important to U.S. Foreign Policy,” and to discuss contemporary topics that form the nexus between global health and U.S. foreign policy
Bio-terrorism is the one of the deadliest threats facing the United States today. This roundtable, in light of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, discusses measures to protect against or mitigate the effects of such a bio-terrorist attack by asking questions such as:
• What is the potential for a significant bioterrorist attack on the United States;
• What public health and related measures can be taken in advance of an attack to reduce their impact;
• Are we currently equipped to deal with the consequences of an attack?
• What type of biological agents can terrorists get their hands on?
• Can they keep them alive and grow enough of them to mount a significant attack?
• Can they weaponize them effectively to mount a massive attack that puts tens to hundreds of thousands at risk;
• How much money is needed to prepare the United States for a large scale biological terrorist attack?
• How the money should be allocated, which programs/agencies should be funded?
October 1, 2001—October 1, 2001
September 1, 2001—August 20, 2002
| Director: | Lawrence J. Korb, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress |
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October 1, 2001—April 30, 2002
| Directors: | James J. Shinn Peter Gourevitch |
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October 1, 2001—Present
| Director: | Stephen Sestanovich, George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies |
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The Kennan Roundtable is an on-going series of meetings that focus on the major policy questions posed by changing U.S. relationships with Russia and the former Soviet states of Eurasia. Whether measured by the near-alliance between Presidents Bush and Putin, the establishment of bases in Central Asia, or Ukraine's decision to seek NATO membership, there has been significant enhancement of these relationships since September 11. Understanding their durability and direction is the principal aim.
Meetings examine areas of expanding cooperation, such as Moscow's unfolding energy strategy and the security of sensitive nuclear materials. We will also look at emerging areas of discord. In the case of Russia, these include the tensions associated with its recurrent pressures on Georgia; in the case of Ukraine and Central Asia, the continuing emphasis placed by U.S. policy on democratization and human rights.
October 1, 2001—April 1, 2002
| Director: | Charles G. Boyd |
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| Chairs: | Carla A. Hills, Co-Chairman; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hills & Company Richard C. Holbrooke |
July 1, 2001—November 1, 2003
| Director: | Dennis Kux |
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| Chairs: | Nicholas Platt Frank G. Wisner, External Affairs, AIG Inc. |
August 1, 2001—December 9, 2002
| Chair: | Edward C. Meyer |
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| Staff: | The Honorable Morton I. Abramowitz, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation William L. Nash, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and Director of the Military Fellows Program |
During the 1990s, nowhere was the virus of militant ethnic nationalism more deadly than in the Balkans. America and its allies ultimately played an indispensable role stopping atrocities and creating conditions for sustainable peace; now, after a decade of extensive involvement, the international community is looking to wind down its commitment in the region. The Center for Preventive Action, a conflict prevention initiative of the Council on Foreign Relations, formed this Independent Task Force to develop tangible and practical recommendations to put the Balkan states irreversibly on the path toward integration with Europe, and to allow the international community to reduce its presence in an orderly fashion by 2010. The key recommendations include: first, the European Union take the lead on the Balkans, but American leadership and partnership is still needed to ensure that U.S. interests—particularly in the areas of military reform and the combatting of organized politico-criminal syndicates that undermine regional and even global security—are safeguarded. Second, shift the priorities of international and local actors toward the standards of the European Union and NATO accession plans, and the use of conditionality—“carrots and sticks”—by the international community to achieve its priorities. Third, increase investment and trade in the Balkans through banking-sector reform, privatization of state- or publicly owned corporations, private-sector development, and legislative and judicial action on property rights. The Task Force included senior experts on the Balkans and U.S. foreign policy from a cross-section of think tanks, government, the military, international organizations, academia, and the business community.
November 1, 2001—December 1, 2002
| Director: | Morton H. Halperin |
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The work of the international community of democratic states does not end when a country’s people choose democracy. Rather, democratic governments must endeavor also to help one another to nurture and maintain their democratic gains. The report of the independent Task Force—composed of leading civil society, academic, and former government figures from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East—creates a framework of preventive and responsive measures for coordinated international action against threats to democracy in the form ofcoups d’etat and erosions of the democratic process. The report concludes that international support for democracy is consistent not only with the ideals of democracies, but also with their interests and security.
February 1, 2001—September 30, 2001
| Chairs: | Edward L. Morse Amy Myers Jaffe, Wallace S. Wilson fellow in Energy Studies, The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy of Rice University |
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October 1, 2001—July 1, 2003
| Director: | Lawrence J. Korb, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress |
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Afghanistan’s future is now largely in the hands of the United States and the international community. This roundtable, led by a former Assistant Secretary of Defense, will explore the ways in which the United States, the UN, World Bank, and others should best deal with a post-Taliban Afghanistan by asking questions such as: How likely is a sudden collapse of the Taliban and what are the implications; What are US and international goals in the region; and how do we achieve those goals, i.e., what is the role of the United States, UN, other countries?
May 1, 2001—June 30, 2004
| Director: | Joe Siegle |
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The Democracy Promotion Roundtable is a monthly series of seminars examining various topical issues facing the democracy promotion community. The sessions aim to advance the policy debate on economic, political, and bureaucratic constraints to the current wave of democratization - affecting some 90 countries around the world. With this aim in mind, the roundtables serve as a forum to bring policy practitioners, non-governmental democracy promotion agencies, academics, think-tanks, and advocacy professionals together to discuss emerging policy issues involving democratization - ideas that are vetted by the collective experience of the participants. Sessions normally involve 2-3 panelists, each presenting for approximately 10-15 minutes on a selected theme. The remainder of the 90 minute sessions are opened for questions and broader dialogue. Some of the panelists that have participated in these sessions include William Easterly, Carl Gersham, Harold Koh, Paula Dobriansky, and George Folsom, among others.
November 1, 2001—June 30, 2002
| Director: | Mark Malloch Brown |
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| Staff: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
Cosponsored with the United Nations Development Programme.
This monthly series examines contemporary challenges to poverty alleviation in the Third World and explores ways to make the development process more effective. Past sessions have dealt with Afghanistan, the Monterey Conference on Development, the case for universal education, the relationship between democracy and development, and the need to address health concerns in the developing world. The roundtable serves mainly as a forum to raise awareness and foster a dialogue on development issues among New York-based members and agencies.
November 1, 2001—November 1, 2002
July 1, 2001—July 1, 2001
| Staff: | Roger M. Kubarych, Henry Kaufman Adjunct Senior Fellow for International Economics and Finance |
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October 1, 2001—Present
| Staff: | Caroline Atkinson, Adjunct Senior Fellow for International Economics |
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This roundtable series brings together key players from the private markets, government, Federal Reserve, IMF, World Bank, and think tanks to discuss pressing policy issues in international economics. The group, which meets monthly, has so far discussed issues such as the impact of terrorism on economic prospects, the outlook for emerging markets, and U.S. trade policy.
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